THE MOST HEARTBREAKING LOSSES IN THE HISTORY OF SPORTS

A game between two teams, be it any sport, more often than not, only points to one conclusion: one of the two competing teams and their fan bases will experience great pride, joy, and celebrations; meanwhile, the other team will experience crushing defeat, heartbreak and humiliation. In this post, we will be taking a glimpse at the latter and revisiting some of the most heartbreaking losses in the history of sports. These are the losses that made the fans want to curse the lords, question their sanity, call in sick for work the next day, because they just could not deal with it.

1994 NBA PLAYOFFS: SEATTLE SUPERSONICS LOSE TO DENVER NUGGETS:

The Seattle Supersonics entered the 1994 playoffs with leading players. Shawn Kemp & Gary Peyton, with a 63-19 record, while the Denver Nuggets struggled to exceed their wins over their losses, with a score record of 42-40. After consecutive wins in the first 2 games, Supersonics dropped the ball in the last 3, including a 98-94 overtime loss in the 5th game that took place in Seattle. The loss was so heartbreaking as well as humiliating that they don’t play NBA Basketball there anymore.

Manchester United is the world’s most sought after team with about 20 EPL Championships, next to Manchester City’s 2. Nevertheless, Manchester City compensated for their losses in the past through their latest deep-pocketed ownership, the Abu Dhabi United Group, which stacked their table with the world’s most talented bunch.

They didn’t only defeat United on 23rd October 2011, they absolutely crushed them 6-1, the worst home loss for United since 1955 and the first time they gave up 6 goals at home since 1930. It was a truly heartbreaking moment for the United fans as this win moved Man City 5 points up to 1st place in standings.

MIKE TYSON LOSES TO BUSTER DOUGLAS IN 1990:

In 1990s, Mike Tyson was a truly renowned boxer in the world, in addition to being one of the scariest human beings, in comparison to his opponent, Buster Douglas, who was essentially mostly known for his pounds, more than he was for his boxing.

However, Douglas managed to steer clear of Tyson and keep him off himself by using his long reach. He knocked Tyson down in the 10th round, despite himself getting beaten down by Tyson in the 8th round. And with that, Tyson lost his 1st match, along with his knee, thereby shaking his indestructible determination and will; one of the most heartbreaking moments in the history of sports.

GERMANY BEATS BRAZIL 7-1 IN THE WORLD CUP SEMI-FINALS 2014:

Pretty sure that a 7-1 loss is a big time blowout, especially when you’re the host country. One might be able to sympathise with Brazil, as they lost 2 of their greatest players. Nevertheless, a 7-1 score is considered to be as good as not showing up for the game. They lost so bad that the German team had to apologise to the host team for knocking them down so hard. Not only did Brazil embarrass themselves, but they brought shame upon the whole country. They appeared to be playing like a youth soccer team playing the U-17s which is exactly why the Germans scored 4 goals in a span of just 7 minutes.

U.S BASKETBALL AT THE 2004 OLYMPICS:

After professional basketball players were granted permission to be a part of the Olympic teams in 1992, the United States brought home a gold at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 games. But the joy for the same lasted them till the commencement of the 2004 Olympics, wherein, despite having a stack full of all-stars, the U.S lost their opening game to Puerto Rico. Yes, you read it right: PUERTO RICO.

Three games after losing to Puerto Rico, they got defeated by Lithuania. Losing to Argentina in the semi-finals confirmed that there would be no chance for a 4th gold. But coming back to the more serious issue, yes, they lost to Puerto Rico.

INDIA BEING KNOCKED OUT FIRST ROUND IN THE CRICKET WORLD CUP 2007:

Being the runners up the previous time, India was among the most desirable teams in the West Indies World Cup. At the time of the tournament, India was playing against Bangladesh, Bermuda and Srilanka in group B. Sadly, India was struck by an unfortunate series of losses wherein some extraordinary bowling from Mashrafe Mortaza brought India down to 72 for four. India fell from 157 for 4 to 159 for 9, despite both Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguli scoring fifties.

All the remaining bits of hope went out the window when Tamim Iqbal hit Zaheer Khan for a startling six. Bangladesh won by 5 wickets with 9 balls to spare. India fought back by scoring a World Cup record of 413 for 5 against Bermuda, and won by 257 runs. Nevertheless, they could not succeed in chasing 255 in their match against Srilanka as Muttiah Muralitharan’s performance lead them to a 69 run win. There were tiny rays of hope for India to still make it until Bangladesh defeated Bermuda, which caused India to fail to get through the first round for the first time since 1992.

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